Neurology: Seeing Fingertips

Soviet Psychiatrist Isaac Goldberg could
well understand his colleagues' doubts, but he insisted that he really
did have an epileptic patient who could read ordinary print with her
fingertips. To prove it, he had Rosa Kuleshova, 22, admitted to the
Sverdlov Clinic for Nervous Disorders. There before a skeptical
audience, Dr. Goldberg blindfolded Rosa and had the blindfold checked.
Then Rosa opened a book at random, passed the fingertips of her right
hand lightly over the page, and fluently read the text aloud. She did
the same with a newspaper. Handed a snapshot, Rosa stroked the surface
and said:...